Dwight Ball
Dwight Ball is a Canadian politician, the 13th and current premier of Newfoundland and Labrador since 14 December 2015 and an MHA. He represents the electoral district of Humber Valley in the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly and has served as leader of the Liberal Party since November 2013.
On 3 January 2012, Ball began his duties as Leader of the Official Opposition and interim leader of the Liberal Party. On 5 July 2013, Ball stepped down as interim leader of the Liberal Party to run for the position permanently in the 2013 leadership election, which he won. He was sworn in on 14 December 2015.
On 30 November 2015, Ball won a 31-seat majority government in the 2015 election. The Ball government was re-elected to a minority government in 2019.
On 17 February 2020, Ball announced his pending resignation and will stay on as Premier until after a successor has been chosen.
Early life and career
Dwight Ball was raised in Deer Lake, Newfoundland and Labrador, and graduated from Elwood Regional High School. He attended Memorial University when he was 17 years old. His younger brother is Deer Lake's mayor Dean Ball.Ball was the recipient of the Bowl of Hygeia Award for his work as a community pharmacist that began with his franchising of the Deer Lake Pharmacy. Ball later bought a community pharmacy in Springdale. Ball is also the owner of several senior care homes and is involved in real estate development and venture capital investments. The towns of Deer Lake and Springdale have independently both named Ball as Employer of the Year for his contributions to supportive employment programs in the area. He won a byelection for a seat in winter of 2007, only to lose it in the fall of 2007 NL provincial general election. News outlets from thereon in cited him as a possible future NL liberal party leader and premier of NL.
Politics
Ball was the Liberal candidate in the district of Humber Valley in the 2003 provincial election but was defeated by Progressive Conservative candidate Kathy Goudie by less than 200 votes. When Goudie resigned from the legislature, Ball ran in a by-election to succeed her on 13 February 2007. At first, it was announced that Progressive Conservative candidate Darryl Kelly had won the by-election by a margin of twelve votes; however, Ball was later declared elected by a margin of 18 votes. A judicial recount was conducted weeks later and resulted in a reduction of Ball's lead to seven votes. In a rematch in the general election on 9 October 2007, Kelly defeated Ball by 254 votes. Four years later Ball once again ran as the Liberal candidate in the 2011 election and this time narrowly defeated Kelly by 68 votes.Leadership
At a press conference on 15 December 2011, the Liberal Party announced that Ball would serve as interim leader of the party and as the Leader of the Official Opposition, effective 3 January 2012. He succeeds Kevin Aylward, who failed to win a seat in the general election, as leader of the Liberal Party and Yvonne Jones as the Official Opposition Leader. Ball announced on the same day that he planned to run for the permanent leadership of the party at the next leadership convention, and that he would step down as interim leader 90 days before the convention to even the playing field for other candidates. In May 2012, the party announced the leadership convention would take place from 15–17 November 2013. On 5 July 2013, Ball stepped down as interim leader of the Liberal Party to run for the position permanently in the leadership election that November, which he won with 59% of the vote on the 3rd ballot. Ball served as leader for the party in the 2015 general election.Premiership (2015–present)
Ball was sworn in as Premier in December 2015 after leading the Liberal Party to win 31 of 40 seats in the House of Assembly in the election in November.Despite consistent Progressive Conservative leads in polling through the debate, including a 9-point lead in the final poll, released a day before the election, The Liberal Party led by Dwight Ball won re-election in the 2019 provincial election, but nonetheless fell one seat short of retaining their majority after an unexpected loss to the New Democrats in Labrador West by 5 votes.
On 17 February 2020, Premier Ball announced his resignation as Premier and Leader of the Liberal Party. He will remain at his post until a new leader is chosen at the party convention.
Minister of Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs
Ball took over the post of Minister of Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs from PC Keith Russell after the election in 2015. This decision was somewhat controversial as none of the Aboriginal MHAs from Labrador were appointed to Ball's cabinet and Ball was neither from Labrador or an Aboriginal however the move was supported by NunatuKavut president and former Labrador MP Todd Russell.In 2016, Ball announced a study on the costs of a fixed link between the island and Labrador.
On 11 June 2018, Ball announced Vale Limited is moving forward with its underground mine at Voisey's Bay. Ball stated that the move will extend the mine's operating life by at least 15 years. Over the five-year construction, more than 16,000 person-years of employment will be created according to Ball. First ore is expected no later than April 2021.
Inquiries
In December 2015, it was announced that public inquiries into the deaths of Don Dunphy and Burton Winters would take place.2016-17 budget
The provincial government unveiled its budget in April 2016 and it implements austerity measures. Ball and Minister of Finance Cathy Bennett do not expect the province to see another surplus until 2022.Anti-austerity protests have taken place across the province in areas like St. John's, Corner Brook and Happy Valley-Goose Bay.
Natural resources
Ed Martin scandal
In early 2016, Nalcor Energy CEO Ed Martin left the company. Ball and Martin each claim that Martin left under conflicting circumstances.Lower Churchill Project
The cost of the Lower Churchill Project has doubled since it started development nearly a decade before Ball took office. The province's financial situation was different when the project started development, the price of oil was high, however the price of oil and the value of the Canadian dollar has gone down since. Ball has blamed the governments of Danny Williams and Kathy Dunderdale for the number of problems that the project has caused.In 2017, Ball announced an inquiry into the Muskrat Falls Hydroelectric project.
Popularity
During the 2015 election campaign Ball's Liberals usually saw public approval ratings well over 50%. His party earned 57.2% of the votes in the election. In February 2016, a poll showed that 60% of respondents approved of Ball's work as premier.The 2016-17 budget had a huge impact on Ball's public approval. A poll from MQO Research in April 2016 showed a near tie in support for all 3 parties, a huge difference from a few months later when Ball's liberals had far more support than the other 2 parties. Combined with the scandal involving Ed Martin, Ball's public support has dropped at a fast rate since the election. A poll in May 2016 showed that Ball was the least popular head of government in the country with a 17% approval rating. The second lowest score was Ontario's Kathleen Wynne with 24%.
An online petition calling for Ball's resignation went viral in June 2016, but Ball has stated that he will not resign and he also stated that the province would not go bankrupt.
Support within the Liberal Party
, the MHA for Mount Pearl-Southlands, was suspended from the Liberal caucus in 2016 opposing the budget. Despite an online petition calling for Brian Warr to leave the caucus and sit as an independent MHA, Warr did not change parties.Drew Brown, a Liberal candidate in the 2007 and 2011 Newfoundland provincial general elections, wrote an article for Vice News calling for Ball's resignation and he later criticized the government's oversight of the Lower Churchill Project and its impacts on Lake Melville. Ball has also been criticized by former premier Roger Grimes. On 16 June 2018 delegates at the Liberal Party Annual General Meeting vote to endorse the leadership of Ball with 79% voting against the party holding a leadership convention.